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Schwarzer wants magnificent atmosphere against Uzbek's

Socceroos keeper Mark Schwarzer is hoping the Sydney public can go some way towards re-creating the magnificent atmosphere of his last visit to ANZ Stadium, when Australia play Uzbekistan on April 1 in a crucial World Cup qualifier.

Socceroos keeper Mark Schwarzer is hoping the Sydney public can go some way towards re-creating the magnificent atmosphere of his last visit to ANZ Stadium, when Australia play Uzbekistan on April 1 in a crucial World Cup qualifier.

November 16, 2005 will forever be etched in Schwarzer-s memory banks, as one of his greatest night-s during his football career; the night he had a starring role in Australia-s long awaited qualification for a second World Cup appearance.

It will be his first time back at the venue where he saved two shots in the penalty shootout after Australia was locked at 1-1 with Uruguay on aggregate at the end of extra time. Roared on by a passionate and fanatical crowd, John Aloisi calmly converted his spot kick to send Australia to Germany and the scenes that followed are now part of Australian sporting folklore.

While Schwarzer admits it will be hard to re-create the atmosphere of that night, he has no doubts, with just as much at stake and possible World Cup qualification for 2010 guaranteed, Sydney football fans will be there on mass to support the team.

“It-s going to be very, very difficult to match that atmosphere in 2005,” Schwarzer said, remembering the events of that night. “But I hope we can go close.

“I hope everyone turns up and I-m sure they will and I-m sure that everyone will give 100% support. We-ve always had a core of tremendous; fanatical supporters, but the last four or five years, we-ve pretty much had full houses in the all places we have played and its been sensational.

“I-m very confident the public will come out and support us as they always do and hopefully we can repay that support by performing well and winning the game and taking that extra step towards qualification.”

Schwarzer has no doubts that the crowd that night played a big part in their victory over Uruguay and knows the same can happen on April 1 against Uzbekistan. A win over Uzbekistan could very well confirm Australia-s participation at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa next year and they would obviously like to once again do it in front of a big crowd.

“It-s massive; nothing beats going out in front of a full stadium, full of fanatical fans that are backing your every step on the field.

“It-s also very intimidating for your opponent, so it does act as an extra backing for your team and it really does get everyone going and up for the match, even more so than they already are, if that-s even possible.

“Nothing beats playing in front of a full house, particularly when you are playing at home for all of us who play overseas all the time; it-s obviously a great experience to do so.

Like against Uruguay, Schwarzer is hoping for another memorable night in his home town.

“I hope so; that-s the idea from our point of view. It-s been by no means an easy ride throughout the campaign, but obviously people might look at it and see us with four games, ten points and looking nice at the top of the table.

“Things can change very, very quickly and we know how important it is to get points as quickly as possible and make our place at the 2010 World Cup is assured.

“The sooner we can do that the better, so Uzbekistan at home is a massive game for us.”

While the campaign to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals has been a long and fairly arduous one, compared to previous campaigns, Schwarzer and the rest of the players wouldn-t have it any other way.

“No not at all; it-s been fantastic,” he said of the campaign so far. “I-ve really enjoyed it so far; it-s been a long process; it-s been hard work, but you don-t get anything without hard work and you can-t expect to qualify for the World Cup without having really deserved it.

“There is a lot of things along the way that give you that extra lift, as a group we might not play that well, but we are so determined and focused of reaching that goal that so far it-s put us in a good position.

“It does really make it all really worth while. Playing for your country is the pinnacle for any player and to hopefully be part of a squad that can create even more history, by being the first team to qualify for back-to-back World Cup-s.”

You can be part of history and see the Socceroos potentially be the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals, apart from hosts South Africa, when they play Uzbekistan at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday April 1.

Tickets are still available. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to Ticketek.